new wheel bearings or regrease
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 572
Likes: 61
new wheel bearings or regrease
Car has been sitting for many years. All wheels rotate without any grinding sounds. Should I replace all of the wheel bearings just for good measure or will re-greasing them and reassembling everything be adequate?
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,116
From: Crossville TN
You should pull them out, clean them with solvent, inspect them carefully, and either reuse them or replace them.
What you are looking for:
The bearing race should be smooth and free of pits, bumps, and should be relatively shiny. It should not have any rust/corrosion, chatter, or look "frosted". If the surface cleans up well and appears to be very smooth, it is probably fine to reuse it.
The bearing roller surface should look similar to the race...shiny and smooth. You should not see any significant rubbing/wear on the edges of the bearing cage which abut the rollers. Likewise, the cage surfaces at the ends of the rollers should not show damage. There may be some polishing/burnishing of these surfaces, but no inidications of heavy loading.
The cage should show no cracking at the corners of the cage slots.
P.S. If your existing bearings have been in place for many years and, when cleaned and inspected, appear to be in good condition, you would do best to thoroughly repack such bearings with a good quality synthetic bearing grease and reuse them. They have already proven themselves to be reliable...why gamble with 'new' ones (which are of 'unknown' quality)?
What you are looking for:
The bearing race should be smooth and free of pits, bumps, and should be relatively shiny. It should not have any rust/corrosion, chatter, or look "frosted". If the surface cleans up well and appears to be very smooth, it is probably fine to reuse it.
The bearing roller surface should look similar to the race...shiny and smooth. You should not see any significant rubbing/wear on the edges of the bearing cage which abut the rollers. Likewise, the cage surfaces at the ends of the rollers should not show damage. There may be some polishing/burnishing of these surfaces, but no inidications of heavy loading.
The cage should show no cracking at the corners of the cage slots.
P.S. If your existing bearings have been in place for many years and, when cleaned and inspected, appear to be in good condition, you would do best to thoroughly repack such bearings with a good quality synthetic bearing grease and reuse them. They have already proven themselves to be reliable...why gamble with 'new' ones (which are of 'unknown' quality)?
Racer
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 362
Likes: 11
From: MARSHALLVILLE OHIO
You should pull them out, clean them with solvent, inspect them carefully, and either reuse them or replace them.
What you are looking for:
The bearing race should be smooth and free of pits, bumps, and should be relatively shiny. It should not have any rust/corrosion, chatter, or look "frosted". If the surface cleans up well and appears to be very smooth, it is probably fine to reuse it.
The bearing roller surface should look similar to the race...shiny and smooth. You should not see any significant rubbing/wear on the edges of the bearing cage which abut the rollers. Likewise, the cage surfaces at the ends of the rollers should not show damage. There may be some polishing/burnishing of these surfaces, but no inidications of heavy loading.
The cage should show no cracking at the corners of the cage slots.
P.S. If your existing bearings have been in place for many years and, when cleaned and inspected, appear to be in good condition, you would do best to thoroughly repack such bearings with a good quality synthetic bearing grease and reuse them. They have already proven themselves to be reliable...why gamble with 'new' ones (which are of 'unknown' quality)?
What you are looking for:
The bearing race should be smooth and free of pits, bumps, and should be relatively shiny. It should not have any rust/corrosion, chatter, or look "frosted". If the surface cleans up well and appears to be very smooth, it is probably fine to reuse it.
The bearing roller surface should look similar to the race...shiny and smooth. You should not see any significant rubbing/wear on the edges of the bearing cage which abut the rollers. Likewise, the cage surfaces at the ends of the rollers should not show damage. There may be some polishing/burnishing of these surfaces, but no inidications of heavy loading.
The cage should show no cracking at the corners of the cage slots.
P.S. If your existing bearings have been in place for many years and, when cleaned and inspected, appear to be in good condition, you would do best to thoroughly repack such bearings with a good quality synthetic bearing grease and reuse them. They have already proven themselves to be reliable...why gamble with 'new' ones (which are of 'unknown' quality)?
2026 Loser of the Year
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 36,573
Likes: 7,017
From: New Or-leens Loo-z-anna
I hate to say it, but...............If the grease in the original front bearings feels 'hard", looks dis-colored,or there isn't much grease in the bearing...there is a good chance that the rear wheel bearings need immediate attention also (I recently had the same situation with my project car....the rear wheel bearings would have failed within a couple months, costing me much more than a container of grease and a weekend of DIY bearing servicing).
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Pro
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 730
Likes: 37
From: Catoosa Okla
Here are my thoughts, and I just completed mine today. After the royal PIA they are to do, as well as the expense of doing it in both parts and labor, I replaced the bearings and races along with new seals. It should last my lifetime, and then some. I also paid VERY CLOSE attention, keeping all parts on the left side, on the left side. Ect. for the right. This said, I'd recommend having a shim kit on hand, as NEITHER the left or right side bearing shims would work with the existing shims. 3 tries on one side and 4 on the other side and we had it perfect.
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